i got caught up and im not POSITIVE if i missed an oil change or not... it said i was due 3/6 or 16,7xx miles.. long story short i just change the oil and now it smells when i drive... when i changed out the oil it was black... should this be somethign i should worry about? anything else i can do?

(how bad is it for the car if youre late for one oil change?)

 

the smell you are smelling is probably due to residue from the tech putting his grimy soiled mits on your engine components. This should go away after a couple of drives. When a header is touched even oily residue from the oil that naturally exist on your fingertips can be enough to produce a grayish smelly vapor.

or maybe you did this yourself? you did say "i"....

ummm, being 2-3k miles late on a oil change won't kill you or cause much harm. It'll just bogg you down a bit and prolly cause you to lose a few of those precious mpg's.

 

Skythe: if the rotar burns oil as fuel - is an oil change very necessary - what other kind of work is it doing in the rotary?

 

I don't think the Rotary burns oil as fuel but as lubricant. Over time any oil will turn dirty in any engine, that's one of the reason a frequent oil change is recommended for the rotary before dirty oil is injected into the combustion chambers

 

A late oil change?!? Oh no! You're Doomed! (Heh, just kidding.) One late oil change won't kill you, but don't make a habit of it. Regular oil changes are important for your engine's long-term health.